Our Chicago DUI Lawyers are appalled at the total hijacking of people’s right in the name of DUI enforcement that is occurring in Canada. The following article outlines what some Canadian residents are now facing as neo-prohibitionist forces ramp-up their rhetoric and “war” on social drinking.

Cops now ‘judge, jury, prosecutor’

By Sam Cooper, The Province (British Columbia, Canada)

B.C.’s tough new drunk-driving laws are giving police too much power and are putting a serious chill on the restaurant business, critics say.

There’s also widespread confusion over what the average person can consume, and safely drive. But supporters of the new penalties rolled out this week, which are the toughest in Canada, say one drink at dinner is one too many.

Under the new rules, testing for a blood-alcohol reading of 0.08 and failing a roadside test means an immediate 90-day driving ban, along with a 30-day vehicle impoundment. Drivers may face a criminal charge, and up to $4,060 in penalties.

And being in the warning range of 0.05 to 0.079 means an immediate three-day driving ban, a $250 fine, $200 to get your license back and a possible three-day vehicle impoundment — all for a first offense.

David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, says everyone wants drunk drivers off the road — but handing police the sole power to impose fines, plus take away cars and licenses without giving the driver a day in court, is dangerous.

“The police officer at the side of the road has become judge, jury and prosecutor,” Eby said.

SFU criminologist Neil Boyd said on the one side, too many drunk driving charges were being “evaded” in court by well-heeled citizens in B.C. — a problem the government can solve with new powers and penalties.

“Evaded…by well-heeled citizens”?  What does that mean?  Is Boyd talking about people being found “not guilty” because the prosecution couldn’t prove their case?  Apparently this is a “problem” to Boyd, who suggests that with “new powers and penalties”, i.e. no right to a fair trial,  the “problem” can be avoided.

This isn’t going to stop in Canada, folks.  MADD has already tried to reduce the legal definition of DUI from .08 to .05 and make any DUI, even a first time DUI, a felony.  The erosion of your rights in the name of DUI has begun and continues to progresses every single day.

Reminds us of a famous poem, “First They Came For The Jews”, by Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892-1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.

First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Remember the case of the Indianapolis Police officer arrested for DUI after killing one motorcyclist and injuring 2 others after he crashed his police cruiser into the motorists?  Not only did the prosecutor in that case drop the DUI charges, he’s now hiding from the victim’s families.  Our Chicago DUI Lawyers follow up on this story.

Group faces problem delivering petition to Brizzi

By: Troy Kehoe – www.wishtv.com

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – A misunderstanding, or a deliberate “snub?” That’s the question being asked by friends and family of Eric Wells, Mary Mills and Kurt Weekly, after a group of them tried to deliver a petition to Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi Friday morning.

The petition, containing what the group says are 5,054 signatures, demands full prosecution of IMPD Officer David Bisard for hitting Wells, Mills and Weekly with his squad car last month. The signatures are the culmination of weeks of work by the group during several motorcycle rallies on Monument Circle.

But, the petition itself never reached Brizzi’s desk–or even beyond the building’s lobby.

The group says they made and confirmed an “appointment” last week to deliver the petition to the Prosecutor’s office on Friday at 11am. But, when they arrived, Brizzi and his team were in court on an unrelated case.

“They’ve dropped the DUI charges, and they still have the officer basically suspended. Eric and Kurt were great friends. Mary was in my wedding party. It’s been very difficult. It’s a constant reminder that he’s no longer with us,” Graham said.

After 40 minutes waiting in the building’s lobby, the group packed up and left.

“They informed us that nobody’s coming down to take the petitions,” Graham said. “I find it very unprofessional that you can go ahead and set an appointment at 11 for your constituency–for a public concern for public safety–and you can’t go ahead and show up? It’s disgusting how this has all been handled.”

“It’s very disheartening,” agreed Curtis Hamm, another member of the group. “If this is the type of effort they’re willing to put out, it makes me think this is the type of effort they’re putting out on the entire case.”

But, Prosecutor Brizzi says that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“It’s a slap in the face. It’s a slap not only to the friends involved in this situation, but to the victims as well,” he said.

The group’s promise now: that their fight is just beginning.

“We’re going to go ahead and pursue this even harder to go ahead and secure justice for the victims in this accident. We have to go and seek justice. This is not justice. Not at all,” Graham said.

Graham says the group will try to deliver the petition to Brizzi again next week, along with what’s called a “Writ of Mandamus” asking the Indiana Supreme Court to “compel a lower court or a government officer to perform mandatory or ministerial duties correctly”.

First IMPO Bisard kills and injures people, while on duty, with a reported BAC of 0.19 — more than twice the level at which an Indiana driver is considered intoxicated.  The responding IMPOs then “forget” how to properly investigate a DUI accident.  Now, after the prosecutor drops the drunk driving charges, he snubs the victim’s families.

Where’s the outrage from MADD on this one?

Our Chicago DUI Lawyers urge everyone to be responsible out on the roads this weekend.  Another Chicago DUI Checkpoint is set up for this Friday.

ROADSIDE SAFETY CHECK IN THE GRAND CROSSING (003rd) DISTRICT

The Chicago Police Department will conduct a Roadside Safety Check in the Grand Crossing (003rd) District at 7424 S. Stony Island.

The Roadside Safety Check will commence at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, September 24, 2010 and end at 4:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 25, 2010.

Be careful out there folks.

No surprise to our Chicago DUI Lawyers here.  Once again, another police officer is accused of falsifying evidence in order to justify DUI arrests.  This time it is Sacramento Police Officer Brandon Mullock.  Mullock, already under investigation for an altercation with a citizen, now faces more charges after a deputy DA realized that the dashboard cam evidence didn’t match Mullock’s reports.

California: Cop Accused of Faking DUI Reports

- TheNewsPaper.com
Sacramento County, California district attorney dismisses 79 drunk driving cases because arresting officer falsified evidence.

Being arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) can cost a motorist thousands of dollars in court fines, insurance costs and attorneys’ fees. At least 79 accused drivers were notified last Friday that the police officer that charged them with drunk driving had likely falsified at least one piece of evidence. Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully threw out the cases after an investigation into the conduct of Sacramento Police Officer Brandon Mullock, 24.

Scully opened the inquiry into Mullock’s conduct after a deputy district attorney preparing a DUI case for trial watched a dashcam arrest video and noticed that the raw footage differed substantially from Mullock’s written account of the incident in a police report. The case was dropped in June.

“It is fundamental to our system of justice that prosecutors only proceed on cases where the evidence is trustworthy and was legally obtained,” Scully said in a statement. “The United States Supreme Court has said that the prosecutor should seek not simply to win a case, but to see that justice is done. The California Supreme Court has said that public prosecutors are charged with the important and solemn duty to ensure that justice and fairness remain the touchstone of our criminal justice system.”

According to Scully’s office, most of the defendants were convicted in a court of law despite Mullock’s legally unsound decision to detain the motorists, despite his misuse of preliminary alcohol screening and despite wild inaccuracies in his field interviews.

Think that for a second – “most of the defendants were convicted in a court of law despite Mullock’s legally unsound decision to detain the motorists, despite his misuse of preliminary alcohol screening and despite wild inaccuracies in his field interviews”.  This is what the “War” on Drunk Driving has become.  False evidence, the destruction of your Constitutional rights, and junk science all in the name of getting that DUI conviction.  Cops get overtime pay for going to Court, awards from MADD, and promotions from their bosses.  And what do those that are convicted get?  Social stigma, thousands of dollars in fines, and the loss of driving privileges.

And the Defendants in Mullock’s cases, the ones falsely accused – what happened to them?

The district attorney’s office has provided each convicted motorist with documentation they can provide to insurance companies and employers to remedy some of the damage done.

Gee, thanks.

Our Chicago DUI Lawyers were shocked to learn of the latest assault on people’s right in the name of DUI.  Kane County plans to roll out an alcohol testing program for people convicted of DUI.

Kane County tests former DUI offenders 8 times each over holiday weekend

Holiday testing program believed to be a first for Illinois By Clifford Ward, Special to the Tribune

For 17 Kane County residents, the long Labor Day weekend included more than a backyard barbecue or a final jaunt to the beach. It also meant eight trips each to be tested on whether they were complying with court-ordered bans on drinking alcohol.

Kane County State’s Attorney John Barsanti on Tuesday said the holiday testing program — believed to be a first in Illinois — aims to keep people with DUI convictions away from alcohol on Labor Day and other holidays, when their resolve may weaken.

Participants in the program, modeled after one in Michigan, were required to submit to breath-testing eight times over Labor Day weekend — once Friday night; twice on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and once Tuesday morning.

Another example of the neo-prohibition agenda of groups such as MADD.

Our Chicago Defense Lawyers applaud the ACLU for taking on the Illinois State Police over the agency’s “intelligence gathering” on the citizens of Illinois.

ACLU sues state police over intelligence gathering

The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois filed a lawsuit in Cook County today, seeking records on how the Illinois State Police protects people’s privacy while combing through databases compiling evidence of criminal activity.

The Illinois Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center, known as a “fusion center,” was formed to gather and share information about suspected criminals and criminal activity.
The centers were created in response to the 9/11 Commission report that called for better sharing of terrorism intelligence at the national, state and local levels. But the centers have also used their resources to fight local crime.

Concerned about the privacy of Illinois residents whose personal information may end up in the fusion center’s database, the ACLU in September 2008 submitted a Freedom of Information Act request asking the state’s center for documents about its privacy policy, its access to databases that compile personal information and its policy on information gathering from the Internet, among other documents, according to the lawsuit.

But the Illinois State Police, which oversees the fusion center, did not reply to all of the request or to follow-up requests, according to the complaint.

The ACLU is asking a Cook County judge to demand that the Illinois State Police disclose the records.

Capt. Scott Compton, a spokesman for the Illinois State Police, said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

The ACLU’s lawsuit in Illinois comes after reports of abuse at fusion centers in other states, said Adam Schwartz, a lawyer with the Illinois branch of the ACLU. According to the ACLU, fusion centers in other states have targeted people and groups based on their political leanings.

“We want to know the safeguards are in place to ensure people who are doing lawful political advocacy do not end up with sensitive, personal information in the fusion center,” Schwartz said.

Our Chicago Injury Attorneys found this interesting lawsuit filed just last week in Cook County.  While our Chicago Lawyers can certainly sympathize with the thought behind the lawsuit, this one looks like a long shot.

Suit Filed Vs. City’s Parking-Meter Deal Advisers

Chicago Sun-Times

Our Chicago DUI Lawyers urges everyone to be responsible this weekend. Chicago Police will be out in force.

Chicago DUI Checkpoint

The Chicago Police Department will conduct a Roadside Safety Check in the Calumet (005th) District at 11800 S. Halsted. The Roadside Safety Check will commence at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, September 10, 2010 and end at 4:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 11, 2010.

Our Chicago DUI Lawyers wish ex-Chicago Blackhawks goaler Nikolai Khabibulin all the best as he prepares to serve his DUI sentence in Arizona.

Khabibulin hit with 30-day sentence

Sun News Services

Edmonton Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin was sentenced to a month in jail on Tuesday for driving while under the influence of alcohol and speeding.

A minimum 30-day sentence is standard for extreme DUI.

Our Chicago Personal Injury Attorneys have helped injured workers recover hundreds of thousands of dollars for all kinds of injuries.  We have represented injured workers from all over Chicago.  Now the latest ailment to hit workers in Chicago – “popcorn lung”.

Jury awards Chicago-area factory worker millions in suit related to ‘popcorn lung’

By Brian Slodysko and Erika Slife, Chicago Tribune reporters

The $30.4 million verdict is thought to be largest in the country to an individual related to cases involving diacetyl, an ingredient in butter flavored microwave popcorn

A South Elgin factory worker suffering from a life-threatening disease known as “popcorn lung” is bracing for an appeal after a Cook County jury last month awarded him $30.4 million against a supplier of a chemical found in butter-flavored microwave popcorn.

The verdict Aug. 13 was thought to be the largest award in the country to an individual in a lawsuit involving diacetyl, according to the man’s attorney, Ken McClain. Attorneys for the supplier, BASF, are appealing.

Gerardo Solis, 45, has worked for various popcorn and popcorn-flavoring plants in the Chicago area since 1987. Over time, Solis, a father of three, developed bronchiolitis obliterans, a rare respiratory disease that has destroyed 75 percent of his lungs, leaving him with the minimum lung capacity a person needs to live. Fireworks displays or second-hand smoke can send Solis into brutal coughing fits, which can cause him to pass out.

Our injury attorneys wish Mr. Solis and his family all the best.